


The Photographer's Bridge

by Mouseferatu



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Photographer, M/M, Photography, Spirits, This one is sad y'all, if you're on pc please read on twitter the link is in the notes!, very image heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 09:30:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19903534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mouseferatu/pseuds/Mouseferatu
Summary: Beomgyu is a world famous photographer known for his vintage style. He purchases an old camera from a thrift shop. It takes beautiful pictures, but a mysterious figure appears in each one. The thought consumes him, who is the man in the photographs? What will he do to find out?





	The Photographer's Bridge

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a twitter au which escalated into a full blown fic, so this is very image heavy. This fic is best viewed on mobile!!
> 
> You can view this fic with high quality images on twitter at:
> 
> https://twitter.com/taegyumin/status/1149666657805176832
> 
> If you're on PC I highly recommend reading it there!
> 
> Enjoy!

****Beomgyu is a world famous photographer known for his vintage style. He purchases an old camera from a thrift shop. It takes beautiful pictures, but a mysterious figure appears in each one. The thought consumes him, who is the man in the photographs? What will he do to find out?

Developing photo after photo, they were all the same. A young man with dark hair and big eyes. Beomgyu didn't know where to even begin looking for the stranger, so he returned to the shop where he bought the camera, in search of answers.

A dead end. The camera had been donated anonymously, no trace of the previous owner. Dejected Beomgyu went to his favorite place beneath the bridge by the river. He raised the camera, hesitating before snapping a photo. Apprehensive, he ran home and straight into his dark room.

There he was. Like magic, the man appeared beneath the bridge where Beomgyu had been alone. What if...what if these were places the man has been before? What if he was trying to communicate somehow through the camera? Beomgyu's face dropped in despair. What if the man was dead? 

Ridiculous, impossible, astronomically unlikely. He tried to convince himself that there must be something wrong with his chemicals. Still, Beomgyu couldn't shake the thought that the man was asking him for help. Weirdest of all, he wanted to help him. He just didn't know how. 

Unsure of what he should do Beomgyu found himself returning to the bridge every day as if drawn there. He hoped to capture the mysterious man again. He took shot after shot, almost running out of film until finally he found him. The man in the photo stared back at him expectantly.

With a shudder, Beomgyu flipped to the next developed photo. In it, the man had shifted and was now staring up at the bridge with a restless expression. Beomgyu felt the rigid weight of the man's gaze through the celluloid. Was there something up there he wanted Beomgyu to find? 

Beomgyu couldnt help his shaking hands as he developed the final photo. The mans face was pleading & desperate. He was begging for help, from him. The photographer bit his lip, not daring to lift the photo out of the tray. He turned off the dark room light & ran out into the city.

Though he had been to the underpass several times, it took him fifteen minutes to find the place on the bridge the man had been gazing at. He searched the ground but found only dirt & gravel pressed into crevices in the asphalt. He leaned against the concrete railing with a sigh. 

He drew slow circles in the gravel with his feet, staring blankly down at the river below. Suddenly his shoe caught on something. Bending down, he picked up a worn and battered plastic ID card. He gasped, immediately recognizing the man in the photo.

"Kang Taehyun," he whispered to himself. The card was clearly old and expired by several years. He flipped the ID over and found a series of handwritten letters and numbers scrawled on the back. A bus route? At that moment, a loud squeal broke Beomgyu's train of thought. 

He looked up to see a bus had arrived, the doors opening with a creak to let him on. It felt like fate, so Beomgyu allowed his feet to carry him up the stairs. He paid the fee and sat in the seat directly behind the driver. Then he turned and raised his camera.

The bus had taken him out of the city, and it took over an hour to get back to where he had started. Before disembarking, he showed the ID to the driver, just in case. The man shook his head, but told Beomgyu he might have more luck with the records at the issuing office. 

He sat patiently, watching the woman in front of him clacking at her keyboard. She paused, glancing between the ID and her screen before shaking her head. "It looks like his pass was never renewed. I'm sorry, we don't have any information about him." She offered him a sad smile. 

Another dead end. Directionless, Beomgyu took to wandering. He rode the bus every day, hoping for some grand revelation, but nothing developed. One night, out of desperation, he stuck his head out the bus window and screamed. At his lowest moment, Taehyun appeared to him again. 

Beomgyu woke up early to catch the morning bus with renewed hope that a change in the time of day might bring another sign, another message. In the dappled morning light, he presses the shutter until there is no more film left, praying that Taehyun is in even just one photograph. 

He smiled to himself. Taehyun had appeared after all. But his hope shattered the instant he slipped the last photo into the tray. Was he hurt? A knot grew in his throat. Was he...dead? A tear slid silently into developing solution, which rippled over the image of the man's body. 

Beomgyu frantically searched for any information he could about the bridge and Kang Taehyun. His heart froze, unprepared and taken aback by what he found. There had been an accident. His phone clattered to the ground as he covered his face, unable to stop himself from weeping.

Slumping into a chair in his dark room, Beomgyu felt the ID card in his pocket. With trembling hands he slid it out, unable to make out the now-familiar face through his tear soaked eyes. Somehow, despite all the tragedy he'd discovered, the man's photos brought him comfort. 

Beomgyu felt as if he knew him. If they'd met, he was certain they would have been very close. Perhaps even best friends. Kang Taehyun was by all accounts a stranger to him, yet his house and his heart were filled with his photographs. He gripped the ID tightly in his hand. 

There wasn't much he could do, but he could at least do this. Standing up, Beomgyu brushed the dirt off of his hands and double checked his work. Not knowing what else to do to ease the man's soul, he buried Taehyun's ID card beneath the Han River bridge. 

Above the card, Beomgyu planted a small light pink carnation. He wanted Taehyun's memory to grow and bring light into the world the way it had for him. The gesture did not feel like nearly enough, but he was hopeful that it would bring rest to the man's spirit. 

Beomgyu rode the bus back to his apartment. He was used to the bumps now after spending so much time here. He liked to imagine Taehyun by his side, the two of them chatting and laughing together on their way to school. He smiled at the thought and the empty seat beside him 

He was surprised to see a blank envelope on his doorstep. Inside was a single battered Polaroid. He began to cry as he gazed at the photo of Taehyun holding a carnation just like the one he had planted. He smiled & in a quiet, assured voice Beomgyu whispered "Rest easy, Taehyun." 

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by the Our Summer MV and Taehyun's introduction film.  
> Make sure to stream TXT's music videos and help our boys make ROTY!
> 
> You can find me on twitter at @taegyumin
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
